Baker Retailing Center: State-of-the-Art Knowledge Creation & Education |
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November 26, 2013, Volume 60, No. 15
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The Jay H. Baker Retailing Center at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania recently celebrated its tenth anniversary with a gala at the Annenberg Center. This interdisciplinary research center, led by Wharton marketing professor Barbara Kahn, was established by Patty and Jay Baker, a 1956 Wharton graduate and the former President of Kohl's Corporation, to be the global leader in retail knowledge and education through cutting-edge academic research, joint academic-industry programs, student and alumni activities, global initiatives and career placement.
"Retailing is changing and getting more complex every day. We want to support the industry by getting our faculty to think about challenging business questions that are at the top of retailers' agenda. Our students benefit from it through the curriculum," explained Dr. Kahn. The center works with a C-level industry advisory board and accomplished Wharton faculty thought leaders to foster the exchange of ideas and initiate collaboration. "We've been able to get the industry and academia to work together. It's something we've nurtured and built, and it's really working now," said Mr. Baker.
The Baker Retailing Center has expanded the Wharton School's scope of content expertise to retailing, leveraging the School's interdisciplinary faculty and tapping into a high-caliber industry network for classroom speakers, academic-industry projects and career mentoring. In addition to a retail curriculum and career placement, the Baker Retailing Center has addressed the fast-paced changes in retailing through knowledge creation activities such as industry-academic conferences, roundtables and industry-relevant research under the theme of "retailing in a digital, mobile world." Individual programs have included the blurring boundaries between retailing and advertising, online-offline interaction, impact of social media on the omni-channel process, how customer and employee emotions can be managed and leveraged and sustainability in retail.
The Center's activities over the last decade have raised the recognition of retail as an academic discipline and business career across the Penn campus and have greatly enhanced students' interest in retail management careers. In the most recent academic year, the number of undergraduate and MBA students taking full-time or internship positions in retail has increased to a total of about 160.
The Jay H. Baker Retailing Center, an interdisciplinary industry research center, was established in 2002 and expanded in 2010 through generous gifts by the Bakers. Since retail is the largest industry in the United States, it was fitting that the nation's first business school would join with industry leaders to establish an unparalleled partnership for retail research, education and practice. Working with our faculty, students, alumni and industry partners, the Baker Center is building the premier retailing center in the world, and has become the epicenter of retailing at the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania. For more information about the Baker Retailing Center, visit
www.wharton.upenn.edu/bakerretail
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